Time as formgiver in japanese architecture

by Mariana Pedro Gonçalves. Dissertation/Project submitted in partial fulfillment of the. requirements for the degree of Master in Architecture. Dissertação e Projecto para obtenção do Grau de Mestre. em Arquitectura. Supervisors/ Orientadores. Dr. António José Damas da Costa Lobato dos Santos. Dr. Hugo José Abranches Teixeira Lopes Farias. Lisbon, June 2015. Time as formgiver in Japanese architecture. Building rehabilitation and adaptation in the Hakozaki Campus of Kyushu University, in. Fukuoka, Japan.. faculdade de arquitectura UNIVERSIDADE DE LISBOA. (in previous page). photo by Yukio Futagawa, 1970. by Mariana Pedro Gonçalves. Dissertation/Project submitted in partial fulfillment of the. requirements for the degree of Master in Architecture. Dissertação e Projecto para obtenção do Grau de Mestre. em Arquitectura. Supervisors / Orientadores. Dr. António José Damas da Costa Lobato dos Santos. Dr. Hugo José Abranches Teixeira Lopes Farias. Lisbon, June 2015. Time as formgiver in Japanese architecture. Building rehabilitation and adaptation in the Hakozaki Campus of Kyushu University, in Fukuoka, Japan. faculdade de arquitectura UNIVERSIDADE DE LISBOA. I. AbsTrAcT. Time, as an object of study, is assuming a gradually more significant role in architectural theory. The limitation of natural resources lost in the process of construction as well as the increase in the quantity of demolition waste generated by this industry are two of the main factors pressing contemporary architects to create more sustainable designs.. In Japan, although the importance of sustainability is well acknowledged within the construction industry, the circumstances are rather different. The influence of Zen Buddhism and Shintoism, the tradition of wood in construction along with the frequency of earthquakes culminate in the interpretation of buildings as temporary objects. Adding to this, Japanese volatile land market pushes buildings onto an extremely short service life.. Living in Fukuoka for nine months has allowed me to come into close contact with this reality. In a dense city where majority of buildings are younger than 20 years old, I wondered if this build-demolish-rebuild cycle was the only possible option. The moving of the university campus and the subsequent vacancy of its buildings presented itself as an opportunity to study this matter further.. This dissertation and its architecture project derive its conclusions from a combination of my personal experiences in Japan, contacting with its architecture and its people, and the influence of the Western culture that raised me. The project, in all its components, expresses my inferences on how a flexible and adaptable building could be achieved in contemporary Japanese architecture. It is also a reflection upon the essential elements of this architecture and how I envisage they could respond favourably to changes in their surrounding community’s needs. It is also a thorough consideration on how architecture can manage the unalterable passage of time.. Key words: Japanese architecture, adaptability, flexibility, time.. II. resumo. A questão do tempo é um dos objectos de estudo mais relevantes na teoria da arquitectura contemporânea. A escassez dos recursos naturais, muitos destes perdidos no processo de construção, assim como o aumento na geração de recursos de destruição e demolição são dois dos principais factores que levam os arquitectos a procurar formas mais sustentáveis de desenhar edifícios .. No Japão, embora a importância da sustentabilidade seja reconhecida pela indústria da construção, as circunstâncias são um pouco distintas das do mundo ocidental. A influência do Budismo Zen e do Shindoísmo, bem como a tradição da construção em madeira e a frequente ocurrência de terramotos contribuem para que os edifícios sejam vistos como objectos temporários e não como elementos permanentes da paisagem construída.. A experiência de ter vivido em Fukuoka durante nove meses permitiu-me entrar em contacto com esta realidade. Numa cidade densa em que a maioria do edificado tem menos de 20 anos põe-se a questão se este ciclo de construção-demolição-reconstrução é o único cenário possível. A mudança de área do meu campus universitário e o consequente abandono do seu edificado apresentaram-se como uma oportunidade para investigar este tema a fundo.. Esta dissertação e o projecto de arquitectura desenvolvidos retiram as suas conclusões não só das minhas experiências pessoais no Japão, o contacto próximo com a sua arquitectura e as suas pessoas, mas também dos conhecimentos adquiridos numa vivência influenciada pela cultura ocidental. O projecto de arquitectura, em todos os seus componentes, expressa a minha interpretação de como um edifício flexível e adaptável pode ser constituído na arquitectura japonesa contemporânea. É também uma reflexão sobre os elementos fundamentais desta arquitectura e como imagino que estes possam responder favoravelmente às mudanças da comunidade onde se inserem. É, acima de tudo, uma reflexão profunda de como a arquitectura pode lidar com a improrrogável passagem do tempo.. Palavras-chave: arquitectura japonesa, adaptabilidade, flexibilidade, tempo.. III. 概要「時間」は建築分野での研究において、その重要性が高まっている。建設で. 失われている天然資源の制限、解体廃棄物の増加は、より持続可能な建物の設計を求めている。. 日本にても持続可能性の重さは認められているが、その環境が西洋とは異なっておる。地震が多い環境のため発達した木造建物は、地震の際は早期に破壊されるものであり、禅宗と新党の影響で建物は一時的なものと考えられている。そのうえ、変わり易い不動産環境は建物の寿命をより短くさせる。. ９か月間福岡に住んだ私は、この現実が肌で感じれた。この町での建物の過半数は20年未満のもので考えられた。新築-撤去-再築、このサイクルが単一の答えだろうか。九州大学のキャンパス移転により、空いている建物の様子から、この問題をより深く考えてみるきっかけとなった。. 本研究と設計は、西洋の環境で育ってた私が日本の建築や人々に会った経験から、両方の環境を理解する努力のうえに行った。. この設計は、日本現代建築に柔軟(flexible)で適応性(adaptable)を持つ建物を実現する方法を提示した。この要素は将来のコミュニティーのニーズにどう答えられるかに関する質問での必修要素でもある。. 最後に、この論文は、建物が経験する時間の記憶を維持させる方法の考察である。. キーワード: 日本の建築、柔軟性、適応性、建物の記憶. IV. V. A work such as this is not possible without the support of many people. I would like to thank to those that made my stay in Japan possible and also to those that made my university experience more enjoyable. Particularly I would like to thank the following people:. To Professor Naoki Tsurusaki, thank you for sharing all the information about the Hakozaki and Ito campuses. Our discussions were very helpful to understand what this project could become.. To Professor Jordan Pollack, thank you for our talks about Japanese culture and all the references shared. To Professor Divigalpitiya Prasanna thank you for making my stay in Kyushu University comfortable and helping me with the survey.. To my supervisor, Professor Hugo Farias, thank you for introducing me to the beautiful world or architecture when only a 1st year student. Your passion for this field, your positivity and comprehension were fundamental for my growth as a student of architecture during these 6 years. Thank you for sharing your knowledge once more and joining me in this thesis. I would be a different student without your encouragement.. To my supervisor, Professor António Lobato Santos, thank you for all the support during these years. Thank you for giving me the chance to develop this theme on a context almost completely foreigner to you. Thank you for helping me grow and learn, for all the knowledge and time shared even when you were not compelled to. This work, and I would not be the same without your dedication.. To my friends and colleagues, thank you for all the motivating discussions and sincere interest in my project. I learned a lot during these 6 years from all of you. Thank you Rodrigo and Ângela for sharing this adventure in Japan with me. Thank you Ana Faria, Sara Sadrudin, Eduardo Antunes, André Preza, Ana Leal, Beatriz Velosa and Alexandre Semedo for being my comrades in the journey that architecture school is. Thank you Luís for the help with the steel model.. To Sílvia Correia, thank you for always being my best supporter. Thank for all that you’ve taught me, for all the strength borrowed and for making me a better person. I wouldn’t have made it so far without you.. To my family, thank you for all your love and care throughout these years. Thank you for supporting my studies. To Mónica, thank you for all the incentive and help. To my brother, thank you for always believing in me and never letting me give up.. VI. contents 1 IntrOductIOn 1. 2 tIMe In ArchItecture 5 2.1 Introduction 6. 2.2 Time permanence 9. 2.3 Time denial 17. 2.4 Fleeting time 21. 3 MOvIng Of KyuShu unIverSIty 27 3.1 The main city 28. 3.1.1 urban development 29. 3.2 Kyushu university and the Hakozaki campus 31. 3.3 Decline and moving of. Hakozaki campus 33. 3.4 A past to preserve 34. 3.4.1 urban guidelines 36. 3.4.2 building preservation 37. 4 tIMe MAnAgeMent 45 4.1 Introduction 46. 4.2. Adaptability & Flexibility 47. 4.3 Adaptability as recognition. of Time 50. 4.4 Adaptability as design 53. 4.5 synthesis 56. 5 flexIbIlIty & AdAptAbIlIty 57 5.1 Introduction 58. 5.2 on Flexibility 58. 5.2.1 Katsura Imperial Villa 59. 5.2.2 Villa capra “La rotonda” 60. 5.2.3 Pombaline Housing 61. 5.2.4 overview 62. 5.3 on Adaptability 64. 5.3.1 bancroft school 64. 5.3.2 engineering Faculty building 2 67. 5.4 Final considerations 69. VII. 6 tIMe AS fOrMgIver 71 6.1 Introduction 72. 6.2 The missing campus 74. 6.2 old buildings, New life 79. 6.2.1 The “Faculty of engineering” 79. 6.2.2 The “Headquarters” 80. 6.2.3 the “memorial hall” 81. 6.3 A city scale house 83. 6.3.1 Project goals and concerns 83. 6.3.2 A house and a place 84. 6.3.3 A parasol on the earth 87. 6.3.4 A house’s how and why 89. 6.3.6 A darkness built in layers 94. 7 fInAl cOnSIderAtIOnS 97. 8 bIblIOgrAphy 100 books 101. Articles and Dissertations 103. electronic Publications 105. Websites 106. VIII. figures 1 IntrOductIOn. 2 tIMe In ArchItecture fig. 2-1 | Kanagawa Oki Nami Ura (The. Great Wave off Kanagawa), ukiyo-e by. Hokusai in 1831 8. in http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Great_. Wave_off_Kanagawa#/media/File:Great_. Wave_off_Kanagawa2.jpg. fig. 2-2 | Tea container from the 18th. century repaired using the kintsugi. technique 9. in münster, cornell university & museum of. Lacquer Art in. “Flickwerk – the Aesthetics. of mended Japanese ceramics.”. fig. 2-3 | The Five story Pagoda in. Horyu-ji 11. photo by author. fig. 2-4 | The kondou building in Horyu-. ji temple 12. evan chakroff, (2013) in https://www.flickr.. com/photos/evandagan/12426679213. fig. 2-5 | Daibutsu-den (Great buddah. Hall) in Todai-ji where these exhibitions. were conducted 13. photo by author. fig. 2-6 | remainings of a Torii in what. now is mishima bay in Fukuoka 14. photo by author. fig. 2-7 | Torii standing near a residence. neighbourhood in Kashiihama,. Fukuoka. 14. photo by author. fig. 2-8 | The old main shrine of Isu. Jingu (built in 1992) above and its new. replacement finished in 2013 18. the Asahi shimbun (2013) in http://ajw.. asahi.com/article/behind_news/social_. affairs/AJ201309250062. fig. 2-9 | The main temple of Ise Jingu. in 1953. 19. Yoshio Watanabe in http://library.osu.edu/. projects/bennett-in-japan/2_6_print.html. fig. 2-10 | The burnt structure of. Kinkaku-ji in 1950 19. unknown in http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/. Kinkaku-ji. fig. 2-11 | Ise’s main torii and bridge in. 1950 20. John W. bennet (1950) in http://library.osu.. edu/projects/bennett-in-japan/2_6_photos.. html. fig. 2-12 | New construction of. residential buildings in Japan from. 1980 until 2012. 24. by author with data retrieved from ministry. of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and. Tourism annual statistics (2013) in http://. www.mlit.go.jp/statistics/details/jutaku_list.. html. fig. 2-13 | Japanese building stock. evolution 24. adapted from Yashiro,Tomonari. “Age. composition of building stocks in several. countries.” Stock management for. sustainable urban regeneration: springer,. 2008. fig. 2-14 | short building life syndrome. in central Tokyo for steel structure and. reinforced concrete buildings. 25. adapted from Yashiro,Tomonari. “Age. composition of building stocks in several. countries.” stock management for. IX. sustainable urban regeneration: springer,. 2008. fig. 2-15 | Age composition of building. stocks in several countries 25. adapted from Yashiro,Tomonari. “Age. composition of building stocks in several. countries.” stock management for. sustainable urban regeneration: springer,. 2008. 3 MOvIng Of KyuShu unIverSIty fig. 3-1 | Map of Japan and location of. Fukuoka 28. by author. fig. 3-2 | Fukuoka’s original coast line. and 2013’s coast line superimposed 28. by author. fig. 3-3 | Demographic evolution in. Fukuoka 29. adapted from Fukuoka city Affairs and. Planning bureau. “Demographic evolution in. Fukuoka.”, 2012. fig. 3-4 | Fukuoka city Planning master. Plan (2001). 30. in http://www.city.fukuoka.lg.jp/english/. fig. 3-5 | Faculty of engineering in. 1914 31. retrieved from Kyushu university Archives. by Professor Naoki Tsurusaki. fig. 3-6 | us military phantom aircraft. crash in 1968 31. retrieved from Kyushu university Archives. by Professor Naoki Tsurusaki. fig. 3-7 | evolution of built area from. Hakozaki campus 32. by Professor Naoki Tsurusaki. fig. 3-8 | Aerospace engineering. Faculty in 1939 33. retrieved from Kyushu university Archives. by Professor Naoki Tsurusaki. fig. 3-9 | The same faculty in 2014 33. by author. fig. 3-10 | buildings abandoned as of. 2005 in Hakozaki campus. 34. by Professor Naoki Tsurusaki. fig. 3-11 | The destruction of the. Faculty of engineering in 1923 35. retrieved from Kyushu university Archives. by Professor Naoki Tsurusaki. fig. 3-12 | building reconstruction of. the Faculty in reinforced concrete in. 1930. 35. retrieved from Kyushu university Archives. by Professor Naoki Tsurusaki. fig. 3-13 | Future plan concept for the. Hakozaki campus area 36. 九州大学箱崎キャンパス跡地利用将来ビジョン検討委員会. “Future Plan concept for the Hakozaki campus Area.” 九州大学箱崎キャンパス跡地利用将来ビジョン, 2013 fig. 3-14 | Piece-meal evolution of the. Faculty of Architecture 38. by author. fig. 3-15 | Faculty of engineering 39. by author. fig. 3-16 | Headquarters (building 1) 39. by author. fig. 3-17 | Auditorium / Memorial. Hall 39. by author. fig. 3-18 | Academic background of the. participants in the survey. 40. by author. X. fig. 3-19 | buildings to be preserved. according to survey. 41. by author. fig. 3-20 | To be protected buildings. possible future uses according to. survey 42. by author. 4 tIMe MAnAgeMent fig. 4-1 | The demolition of Pruitt-Igoe. in 1972 46. Daniel T. magidson, (Pruitt-Igoe press. material) in http://www.pruitt-igoe.com/. press-materials/. fig. 4-2 | Flexibility in the Japanese. house as illustrated in ozu’s 1953 movie. “Tokyo monogatari” 48. fig. 4-3 | bankside Power station in. London, 1963 50. in http://www.artandarchitecture.org.uk/. images/conway/7b91d8cb.html. fig. 4-4 | Tate modern Gallery in London,. 2005 50. in http://www.tate.org.uk/about/projects/. constructing-tate-modern. fig. 4-5 | The six “s”s according to. brand 53. stewart brand, How buildings Learn : What. Happens after They’re built(New York, NY ;. London: Viking, 1994), p.13. fig. 4-6 | The Frame Concept as. illustrated by Leupen 54. bernard Leupen, Frame and Generic. space(rotterdam: 010 Publishers, 2006),. p.16. fig. 4-7 | Large lump development in. oregon university 54. christopher Alexander, The oregon. experiment(New York: oxford university. Press, 1975), p.74. fig. 4-8 | Piecemeal growth in oregon. university 55. christopher Alexander, The oregon. experiment(New York: oxford university. Press, 1975)p.75. 5 flexIbIlIty & AdAptAbIlIty fig. 5-1 | Katsura Imperial Villa 59. by Jimmy Tsang in https://www.flickr.com/. photos/jimmytsang0114. fig. 5-2 | Plan of Villa Katsura and. its stages of construction from dark. (oldest) to light (newest). 59. by author. fig. 5-3 | The engawa in Katsura. Villa 60. in https://mglmarchitects.wordpress.com/. tag/architecture/. fig. 5-4 | The symmetrical Villa capra. “La rotonda” 60. by Albert in https://www.flickr.com/. photos/95223965@N00/3342169474/. fig. 5-5 | Presence of the symmetrical. axis in Palladio’s Villa capra 61. by author. fig. 5-6 | example of a building in. Pombaline style 62. by Appleton Domingos in http://www.. appletondomingos.pt/reabilitacao/. douradores.html. fig. 5-7 | An entire block of Pombaline. XI. housing buildings 62. Jorge mascarenhas, sistemas de. construção V - edifícios de rendimento. da baixa Pombalina de Lisboa, Lisboa,. processo evolutivo dos edifícios, inovações. técnicas, sistema constritivo: materiais. básicos.(Lisboa : Livros Horizonte) 2004,. p.64. fig. 5-8 | Types of circulation in the 3. examples. 63. by author. fig. 5-9 | bancroft school. Apartments 64. in http://www.bnim.com/project/bancroft-. school-redevelopment. fig. 5-10 | General plan of the bancroft. school Apartments development 65. courtesy of bNIm Architects. fig. 5-11 | To the left, a classroom. before the renovation, and to the right a. bedroom after the renovation 65. courtesy of bNIm Architects. fig. 5-12 | bancroft school Apartments. first floor plan (above) and section. (below). 66. by author. fig. 5-13 | Inu Jima Art Project by. Kazuyo sejima 67. sejima, Kazuyo. sanaa : Kazuyo sejima +. ryue Nishizawa : [2008-2011] [in english]. . madrid: el croquis, 2011. p.142. fig. 5-14 | building 2 before renovation. 68. in http://bokukoui.exblog.jp/16683388/. fig. 5-15 | building 2 after renovation. 68. in http://himasoku1123.blogspot.. pt/2013/02/blog-post_5010.html. fig. 5-16 | model of the project 68. in http://iwk.asablo.jp/blog/. img/2007/09/09/3d80a.jpg. fig. 5-17 | Plan of the second floor. of building 2 (above) and section. (below.) 69. by author. 6 tIMe AS fOrMgIver fig. 6-1 | Nagasaki before being hit by. the atomic bomb in 1945 72. http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/AAF/. ussbs/Atomiceffects/Atomiceffects-2.html. fig. 6-2 | Nagasaki after being hit by the. atomic bomb in 1945 72. in http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/AAF/. ussbs/Atomiceffects/Atomiceffects-2.html. fig. 6-3 | existing buildings to be. maintained. 73. by author. fig. 6-4 | Proposed connections. 74. by author. fig. 6-5 | Plan showing the disparity. between private areas (dark grey) and. public areas (white). 75. by author. fig. 6-6 | Diagram of the points of view. of the area’s photographs (1:10 000) 76. by author. fig. 6-7 | synthesis of macro urban. intentions for the campus area. 76. by author. fig. 6-8 | The Faculty of engineering’s. main façade 78. by author. XII. fig. 6-9 | Alterations to Faculty of. engineering Plan. 79. by author. fig. 6-10 | Headquarters building 1’s. main entrance 80. by author. fig. 6-11 | Alterations taken in. Headquarters building 1. 80. by author. fig. 6-12 | Left Façade 81. by author. fig. 6-13 | The trees that overshawod. the presence of the auditorium for those. approaching it. 81. by author. fig. 6-14 | memorial Hall plan 81. by author. fig. 6-15 | A earth “square” in front of. Daibutsuden (Great buddha Hall) in. Todai-ji, Nara 83. by author. fig. 6-16 | Aerial view of the. “square”. 83. in google.maps.com. fig. 6-17 | Diagram of the park 84. by author. fig. 6-18 | The concrete portico 84. by author. fig. 6-19 | The roof from the community. center and the lake 84. by author. fig. 6-20 | Differentiation of spaces by. floor types in Komyozenji, Dazaifu. People. only walk in concrete/stone floors 84. by author. fig. 6-21 | A typical Japanese garden in. Yanagawa 84. by author. fig. 6-22 | A Japanese Zen Garden in. Komyozenji, Dazaifu 84. by author. fig. 6-23 | The path inside maizuru park. in Fukuoka. The pathways and walls. are the ruins of the samurai castle of. Fukuoka 84. by author. fig. 6-29 | sketch of layers of roof in. watercolors 86. by author. fig. 6-24 | sketch of the roof 86. by author. fig. 6-25 | Contemporary interpretation. of roof structure by sANAA in . Naoshima Ferry Terminal 86. by author. fig. 6-26 | Another contemporary. interpretation of the Japanese roof and. structure by Junya Ishigami in KAIT,. Kanazawa 86. in http://www.domusweb.it/content/dam/. domusweb/en/architecture/2013/03/20/. can-architecture-be-invisible-/. big_408327_6725_03_PHo_16443_. ishigamiKanagawaInstitute_of_. TechnologyKAIT1.jpg. fig. 6-27 | A traditional roof built in. layers with the tops of the wooden. beams painted in white to reflect light in. Kyoto Imperial Palace 86. by author. fig. 6-28 | use of golden pieces in. intersections of a traditional roof in. Ninomaru Palace, Nijocastle, Kyoto. 86. by author. fig. 6-30 | Importance of raised floor in. Kumamoto castle, Kumamoto 89. by author. fig. 6-31 | Diagram of permanent. XIII. (black fill) and impermanent buildings. (dashed) 89. by author. fig. 6-32 | Traditional engawa in Kyoto. Imperial Palace 90. by author. fig. 6-33 | relation between engawa. and nature in ohana,Yanagawa 90. by author. fig. 6-34 | Detail of intersection between. the old and the new in the museum of. castelvecchio by carlo scarpa 91. in http://gooju.cn/simages/695604_0_4-.jpg. fig. 6-35 | concrete form in Nagasaki. Peace memorial, Nagasaki. 91. by author. fig. 6-36 | Houshi onsen in Gunma 92. in http://www.booking.com/hotel/jp/houshi-. onsen-chojukan.html. fig. 6-37 | Light and shadow in. Japanese house by Yukio Futagawa 93. in http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-qDixQ332f5g/. ueLIAdfFY4I/AAAAAAAAI5k/mbkQs_. embNs/s1600/sH168.jpg. fig. 6-38 | Light opening in the roof of. Woodland Cemitery by Gunnar Asplund. and sigurd Lewerentz 94. by Isaiah King (2010) in https://www.flickr.. com/photos/isaiahj/4642851382 by author. fig. 6-39 | shadow roof plan. of the community center 95. by author. fig. 6-40 | exploded axonometric 96. by author. XIV. tables 1 IntrOductIOn. 2 tIMe In ArchItecture Table 2-1 | National treasure and. important cultural properties of Japan. by age and building type as of February,. 2014. Information published by Agency . for Cultural Affairs 15. by author using data retreived from 国宝・重要文化財（建造物）種類別・時代別指定内訳 in http://www.bunka.go.jp/bunkazai/shoukai/. yukei_kenzoubutu1.html. 3 MOvIng Of KyuShu unIverSIty. 4 tIMe MAnAgeMent Table 4-1 | Differences between passive. flexibility and adaptability 49. by author. Table 4-2 | Layers and their permanence. according to brand 53. by author. 5 flexIbIlIty & AdAptAbIlIty Table 5-1 | examples of study of. flexibility and adaptability in Western. and Japanese cultures 58. by author. Table 5-2 | Details of the projects being. studied under flexibility 58. by author. Table 5-3 | comparison between the 3. examples 62. by author. Table 5-4 | Details of the projects being. studied under adaptability 64. by author. 1introduction. 2. “I have a passionate desire to design such buildings, buildings that, in time, grow naturally into being a part of the form and history of their place.” 1. This dissertation focuses on the role of time in Japanese architecture, its influence in the life of a building and its effect in the constitution of a city.. My experience living in Fukuoka, Japan for nine months made me acknowledge the specificity of Japan’s culture of ephemerality. When I learned about the moving of my university campus in Hakozaki (comprising over 100.000 m2 of built area) to a new location, I considered it would be an opportunity to further my understanding of the buildings’ unsustainability in Japan’s volatile scenario and also to enquire if an alternative to this apparent rule could be found.. In Japan, the idea of time when mentioning architecture practice can assume antagonistic shapes. If on the one hand we have the Shikinen Sengu, the re-building of Shinto shrines periodically to render them eternal2 , on the other hand we have the appalling average life of 17 years for a regular building in Tokyo3. These two very different approaches in dealing with a building’s ageing seem to be clashing at first, but they work together in giving depth to the layers that compose the modern Japanese city.. With this specific context in mind in addition to the influence of the culture I was brought up on, I decided to use the case of the moving of the Kyushu university facilities. 1 Peter Zumthor, Thinking Architecture, 2nd, expanded ed. ed.(Basel ; Boston: Birkhäuser, 2006), p.16. 2 EDAHIRO, Junko ,Japan for Sustainability Newsletter, Nº132, August 2013, http://www.japanfs.org/en/news/archives/news_id034293.html 3 BRAND, Stewart, How Buildings Learn and what happens after they’re built, US: Peguin, 1995, p.82. 3. in Hakozaki to study the matter of time in architecture. In starting this dissertation it was important to understand what made Japan’s current disposal of old buildings its most frequent practice and if it was possible in these modern cities to preserve buildings, giving them a second life after their original function was altered. Also relevant as an initial question was how could a new design in contemporary architecture become flexible or adaptable enough to respond to different necessities and uses across time and whether this would be a realistic solution to Japan’s current practices.. This dissertation, excluding introduction and final considerations, is organized in five main chapters. The first chapter addresses the perception and influence of time in Japanese culture, focusing on its effects in architecture and, consequently, on the durability of buildings.. The second chapter introduces the case of the Hakozaki campus in which the project will be developed, also explaining which buildings are to be maintained and why.. The third chapter addresses the current theory and methodology being developed in Western practice related to the perishing of buildings and its consequences. The concepts of flexibility and adaptability are introduced and discussed in this part.. In the fourth chapter, five examples are selected to analyse the concepts of flexibility and adaptability, as well as their expression both in Japan and in the West.. The fifth and final chapter describes the project created for the former Hakozaki campus which comprehends the creation of an urban park, the adaptive re-use of three buildings belonging to the university and the design of a new building exploring the concepts of adaptability and flexibility in a Japanese context.. 4. This dissertation is strongly supported by my experience of Japanese cities and their architecture. The majority of the examples used in characterizing the Japanese space were places I visited and which helped me build my own understanding of Japanese architecture. However, this document derive its conclusions not only from this personal experience but also from the investigation and analysis of varied written materials on the subjects, conversations with Japanese architects and an enquiry to the campus community.. Finally, the length of this document is justified by the necessity to clarify the particularity of Japanese perception of time and its effect in its built environment in contrast to the Western viewpoint more familiar to those reading this.. 2Time in ArchitectureJAPANese uNDersTANDINGtable of contents2.1 Introduction2.2 Time permanence2.3 Time denial2.4 Fleeting time. 6. 2.1 INTroDucTIoN. “We have no history. Our history starts now.” 1. Japan’s current understanding of time and of the past as entities separated from the present is one of the basic cultural elements brought to life by the Meiji Restoration of 1868. The quotation above expresses a lament by a Japanese intellectual to the German anthropologist Erwin Bälz when reflecting upon the intense transformations being conducted by the Japanese government in the attempt of the modernization of the country. When in 1872 Japan officially adopted both the Gregorian calendar and the Western 24-hour-system, the idea of establishing a “new time”, or bunmeikaika, had as its main objectives the complete separation of this new modern era from the previous rituals and beliefs associated to the Tokugawa period 2, as well as the preparation of its population for the dramatic changes in their daily lives and practices. Myths and other protohistoric elements that were deeply connected to the sense of purpose of Japan as a nation were separated from historic knowledge and attributed to literature.. “Chronology domesticates pasts, or those heterogeneous times, by placing select events, things or ideas into a series of prior moments of the present.” 3. 1 George Macklin Wilson, "Time and History in Japan," The American Historical Review 85, no. 3 (1980): p.570. 2 Also known as Edo Period, it comprises the period between 1603 and 1868 in which Japan was ruled by the Tokyugawa Shonugate and had its boundaries closed to foreign influence. 3 Stefan Tanaka, New Times in Modern Japan(Princeton, N.J. ; Woodstock: Princeton University Press, 2004), p.113.. 7. As an outcome of this abrupt severance with tradition’s familiarity, Japanese historian, Sokichi Tsuda established a distinction between 2 types of history as perceived by the Japanese. Rekishi was said to be the one that fixed the past and the myths as ahistorical constructs, something that belongs to the realm of tradition. He also identified another type of historical approach in Japanese society, the one that emerged with the Meiji revolution, which he called Shigaku. Sokichi understood Shigaku as the emphasiser of the recently acquired values of progress and non-linearity.4. “Life gives form to history, and life is formed by the past, but it does not continue exactly as it has, it constantly faces the future and establishes new forms; and, that which forms a new life changes contemporary life, faces the future, and creates a new life.” 5. The task of selecting portions of an already widely accepted past to construct a new version of common history is an essential piece in the process of modernization of a society. Nostalgia, anachronism, traditionalism and conservationism are all forces at play in this field.6 The perception of one’s past and time will forever shape “the way people choose to organize their communities as well as the values they want to live by, die for and bequeath to posterity.” 7. One cannot talk about the perception of time in Japan without mentioning the influence of Buddhist philosophy. Traditionally, in Buddhist thought, life is perceived as. 4 “Time and the Paradox of the Orient,” Toajia bunka kosho kenkyu 4(2009): p.174. 5 Sokichi Tsuda, “Rekishi no mujunsei,” Tsuda Sōkichi: zenshū, vol 20, (1965): p. 189. 6 Tanaka, New Times in Modern Japan, p.21. 7 Wilson, “Time and History in Japan,” p.558.. 8. impermanent and transitory, not as something that leads to some sort of finitude, but as something defined by its momentariness.8 The concept of time dominant in Western society is one that pursues continuity and duration, and that understands life as something that happens in sequence.. “Time is a mental device to give order to events by identifying them as coexisting or successive. Moments do not exist in themselves; they are classes of events in which there is no need to distinguish one event as occurring before the other.” 9. However, in the East, the doctrine is one of discontinuity and lack of duration of events in time.10 A common example used to explain this phenomenon is the formation of waves in the sea. Once one wave is formed, it assumes a shape that is familiar to us for a moment; as the wave approaches the shore the characteristics that once defined it start to vanish and are, finally, lost. After this wave, another one arises as if completely independent from the one that preceded and the process is repeated (Fig. 2-1). According to this philosophy, past, present and future are all different moments in their entity, even though they are somehow connected in a causal relation. . In Western concept, time is something that defines how life happens and limits its existence, whereas Buddhist understanding has no need for finitude or sequence, existence is perceived as atemporal and transcendental. Since all things are acknowledged as temporary and perishable there is no need to fix them in time. Things are therefore deemed. 8 Kenneth K. Inada, “Time and Temporality: A Buddhit Approach,” Philosophy East and West 24, no. 2 (1974): p.171. 9 Kevin Lynch, What Time Is This Place?(Cambridge (Mass.), London: M.I.T. Press, 1972), p.120. 10 Joan Stambaugh, “Time, Finitude and Finality,” Philosophy East and West 24, no. 2 (1974): p.131.. Fig. 2-1 | Kanagawa Oki Nami Ura (The Great Wave off Kanagawa), ukiyo-e by Hokusai in 1831.. 9. irrelevant and disposable.. This acceptance of the impermanence of existence and the subsequent lack of attachment to material things plays an important part in the way Japanese society takes care of and connects to their surroundings.. 2.2 TIme PermANeNce On buildings that Outlive their surrOundings. “Beauty is in what time does. Any building older than 100 years will be considered beautiful no matter what” 11. Japanese traditional understanding of beauty, Wabi Sabi, is said to be, not really an aesthetic guide, but instead, a tool to bring people back to their roots in nature as well as to provide them with a sense of peace by disposing of the superficial.12 This philosophy, deeply connected with Buddhist principles, is formed by two distinct units: Wabi, the simplicity and tranquillity of crafted artefacts and Sabi, the beauty that the passage of time brings upon all things. In this part of the research we will focus on the concept of Sabi and how conventionally the Japanese appreciated the decay and ageing of things as a new stage of their development.. Even though Sabi describes an appreciation of things for their past, it cannot be understood as a synonym for the Western appraisal of antiquity that arose, first in Renaissance with the discovery of Classic ruins, and then again in the 18th century with the systematization of archaeology as a scientific discipline. Sabi depicts that the initial beauty of a brand new object is only enhanced with time, that the wear and tear of everyday use as well as the repair needed don’t. 11 Stewart Brand, How Buildings Learn : What Happens after They’re Built(New York, NY ; London: Viking, 1994), p.90. 12 James Crowley, Sandra Crowley, and Joseph Putnam, Wabi Sabi Style(Layton, Utah : Gibbs Smith 2001), p.4.. 10. diminish an artefact’s value, but add to it. One example of this conception is Kintsugi -金継ぎ- (literally patching with gold), the traditional repair of broken ceramic objects by the use of gold lacquer in its junctions (Fig. 2-2). The new object that emerges from the pieces of the old one is cherished by its imperfection. When finally time brings an object to the threshold of its demise, Sabi has reached its ultimate stadium, the natural cycle of organic life is complete.13. Having this concept in mind it is not hard to understand how Japan is the host of the oldest wooden structure of the world – the five-story pagoda of Horyu-ji temple, in Nara (Fig. 3). Built in 607 b.C,14 this complex of buildings is embraced as the founding moment of Japanese culture, one of the few portals to the authentic Japanese “beauty of over 1000 years”.. However, society did not always identify buildings as portrayals of Sabi the same way it did with other objects. In fact, up until the Meiji Restoration, Horyu-ji was popularly known as bimbo dera (poor temple)15. At this time, when it came to buildings, it was natural to hate the old and strive for the new. Once the capital was changed to Edo (present day Tokyo), the temple of Kamakura assumed the role of main site of pilgrimage, determining the decline of Horyu-ji around the. 16th century, when emperor Hideyoshi decided to reduce considerably the funding for its maintenance.. 13 Teiji Ito, Ikko Tanaka, and Tsune Sesoko, Wabi, Sabi, Suki : The Essence of Japanese Beauty(Hiroshima, Japan: Mazda Motor Corp., 1993), p.7. 14 Some parts of the complex are known to be reconstructions from 670 b.C when a fire burnt most of the temple to the ground. 15 Tanaka, New Times in Modern Japan, p.170.. Fig. 2-2 | Tea container from the 18th century repaired using the kintsugi technique.. 11 Fig. 2-3 | The Five Story Pagoda in Horyu-ji.. 12. “Environments rich in historic remains often follow a particular pattern: once markedly prosperous, they then suffered a rapid economic decline and remained stagnant for long periods, through continuing to be occupied and at least partially maintained. This stagnation must then be followed by a second period of wealth (whether belonging to the region itself or brought in by visitors) that can bear the costs of preservation”16. It is important to notice that up until the Meiji Restoration, even though we can say Japan had two main religions (Shinto and Buddhism), they were not really perceived by the population as distinguishable things. Not only were the deities interchangeable, also the place for prayer could be a shrine or a temple for both creeds. Along with the new Meiji government, the necessity to create a fresh sense of nation also arose. Thus was decided that Shinto and Buddhist should be separated as religions, and Shinto, (acknowledged as the original indigenous religion of Japanese population), was favoured over Buddhism, (considered a foreign importation). As the religious practices were so deeply integrated in social life conventions, the 1868’s Shinbutsu Bunri (Law separating Buddhism and Shinto) was a very important step in establishing the beginning of what would later become an extreme nationalistic reaction.. 16 Lynch, What Time Is This Place?, p.31.. Fig. 2-4 | The kondou building in Horyu-ji temple.. 13. At this point most Buddhist temples suffered widespread destruction, with its buildings burned and its artefacts stolen or destroyed. It is remarkable to notice that Horyu-ji did not suffer any harm at this time.. Following this anti-Buddhism movement, previously Buddhist items lost their connection to the political ideologies of the past and started being appreciated by their aesthetic qualities. Paintings and sculptures were moved around Japan and exhibited in what seemed to be an admiration of the “past, as an object that depicts a part of that prior age, and of the present, as a representation that brings that earlier moment into a meaningful relationship with the present.”17 However, in this celebration of the ancient, architecture was still not perceived as worthy of admiration. One curious aspect is that, at this moment, older Buddhist temples were so completely deprived of their previous meaning that, in 1875, Todai-ji served as an exhibition hall for this kind of antiquary’s showings.. “It no longer possessed the grandeur spirituality, power and wealth of the past. It was now a public (i.e. empty) space (the closest thing in 1875 to a convention center) whose meaning depended on the contents of the moment” 18. 17 Tanaka, New Times in Modern Japan, p.171. 18 Ibid., p.36.. Fig. 2-5 | Daibutsu-den (Great Buddah Hall) in Todai-ji where these exhibitions were conducted.. 14. Not long after this, around 1880, influenced by the acts of preservation arising from the West, the Japanese started looking at these buildings as containers of a re-oriented national past. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs created a capital fund for the preservation of cultural resources (buukazai) but when applied to buildings, the majority that received any grant were either Shinto shrines or Buddhist temples. Also, the amount of money being shared was so little that restoration of some heavily neglected examples was completely impossible.. We can say that Horyu-ji could only live to become the world’s oldest wooden structure because of the intervention of the Japanese historian Ito Chuuta. In his thesis he described this Buddhist temple as the “most superb construction among our country’s architecture”, turning it into a symbol of a past shared by an entire nation, as the “zero point from where Japan progresses”19.. “The past must be chosen and changed, made in the present. Choosing a past helps us to construct a future”20. This process of using objects or buildings to represent historical moments was an important part of the creation of a modern sense of nation in Japan. Horyu-ji was slowly transformed into a ghost town; the life that once brought people there to pray was replaced by this fixed symbolization of an original past. In the 21st century it stands as “a dead, but valued complex of buildings.”21. Japan has come a long way since then and as of February of 2014, the list of buildings being managed as important cultural property is as shown in Table 2-1. By observing this table, we can conclude that after the Meiji Restoration, the concept of “building of value” started to encompass other types of public buildings.. 19 Ibid., p.173. 20 Lynch, What Time Is This Place?, p.64. 21 Tanaka, New Times in Modern Japan, p.177.. Fig. 2-6 | Remainings of a Torii in what now is Mishima Bay in Fukuoka. (above). Fig. 2-7 | Torii standing near a residence neighbourhood in Kashiihama, Fukuoka. To. mention that in the land facing the torii no housing building was erected.. 15. Nevertheless, this doesn’t mean that the only manifestations of architecture that survive the constant reconstruction and renewal of Japanese cities are those considered cultural treasures by Japanese government. In Japanese cities we can often find gates of Shinto shrines (torii) that still stand decades after the shrine itself has been destroyed. (Fig. 2-6, Fig. 2-7). It is also important to refer that, unless the buildings were considered worthy of management by the emperor or the government, it was very hard for them to survive the frequent earthquakes that affected the archipelago, as well as the numerous fires that burned the majority of these buildings, generally made out of wood, to the ground.. NUMBER OF BUILDINGS. Before Meiji Restoration (1868) After Meiji Restoration. Total Nara. 710-84. Heian. 794-1185. Kamakura. 1192-1333. Muromachi. 1338-1573. Momoyama. 1573-1603. Edo. 1603 -. 1867. Meiji. 1868-. 1912. Taisho. 1912-. 26. Showa. 1926-. 89. Shrines 4 46 306 162 681 2 1201. Temples 28 35 147 349 127 458 6 1150. Castles 115 119 1 235. Housing 7 25 121 153. Minka 3 1 737 94 12 847. Other 1 12 122 54 10 61 1 261. Religious 22 9 1 32. Schools 57 6 5 68. Cultural 23 23 14 60. Government 21 7 28. Commercial 18 4 5 27. Industry 1 151 56 35 243. Total 29 51 315 719 440 2177 587 207 89 4629. Table 2-1 | National treasure and important cultural properties of Japan by age and building type as of February, 2014. Information published by Agency for Cultural Affairs.. 16. “To preserve effectively, we must know for what the past is being retained and for whom.” 22. Horyu-ji was chosen as one of the most urgent cases of restoration when in 1897 the Meiji government issued the Law for the Preservation of Ancient Shrines and Temples, which was highly improbable at the time since the temple had been abandoned for centuries and it belonged to a religion that the new era was trying to suppress. We cannot say whether the choice to preserve it came from a nationalistic idea to capture the essence of the Japanese adaptation of Chinese Buddhism or from an actual feeling of nostalgia of those, like Ito Chuuta, who could see through the dilapidated pieces, the patina of a glorious history. The temple ended up surviving for years simply because of the collective conviction of its structure as the origin of something that was, in 19th century, still part of what it meant to be Japanese.. Nevertheless, it is ironic to realize that the oldest building in Japan is also the one that hosts the religion that advocates the impermanence of all things.. 22 Lynch, What Time Is This Place?, p.64.. 17. 2.3 TIme DeNIAL On the Shikinen Sengu ceremOny. “My study [of history] has led me to the conclusion that tradition cannot continue to live of its own force, and that it cannot be considered in itself a creative energy. To be transformed into something creative, tradition must be denied and, in a sense, destroyed. Instead of being apotheosized, it must be desecrated.”. Kenzo Tange in 1959 23. Shikinen Sengu, also simply referred to as Sengu is a ceremony that implies the reconstruction and consequent renewal of Shinto shrines in approximately every generation. This name is often mistakenly attributed to the process of rebuilding of Jingu Shrine, in Ise, one of the oldest practices still being conducted on a regular schedule. Nevertheless, as many as 30 shrines are still object of this procedure in 21st century Japan even though some of them are not as systematically planned as Ise.. The interval between reconstructions is usually the equivalent to a generation’s lifespan although not all shrines obey the same time specification. The intervals vary greatly, the shortest period is of 13 years (Nukusaki Jinja, in Gunma) while the longest is of 50 years (Kamo Mioya Jinja, in Kyoto), Jingu Shrine is rebuilt every 20 years and some other temples don’t even have a regular time span (Izumo Taisha, in Shimane). The required time between re-constructions is stipulated in order to ensure that the skills needed to maintain the shrine (knowledge of architecture and carpentry, techniques of. 23 Kenzo Tange, “An Approach to Tradition” cited from Jonathan M. Reynolds, “Ise Shrine and a Modernist Construction of Japanese Tradition,” The Art Bulletin 83, no. 2 (2001): p.324.. 18. metalwork, dyeing, lacquering, etc) are passed down from one generation of artisans to the next24 as well as to guaranty that the pureness of the materials and architecture form are being preserved. Since the buildings we mention are built in its majority out of wood, it is also necessary to safeguard the availability of the materials for the rebuilding. As of the latest reconstruction of Ise Jingu in 2013, it is estimated that over 15.000 cypress trees were necessary for its renewal, as well as 900 meters of silk, 3.75 kilograms of gold and 250 kilograms of lacquer, reaching a total cost of as much as 55 billion yen (≈4 billion euro).25 (Fig. 2-8). 24 Dominic Mciver Lopes, “Shikinen Sengu and the Ontology of Architecture in Japan,” The Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism 65, no. 1 (2007): p.82. 25 Ibid., p.80.. Fig. 2-8 | The old main shrine of Isu Jingu (built in 1992) above and its new replacement finished. in 2013.. 19. The concept of periodic renewal is something deeply ingrained in Shinto religion whose festivals are timed after the cycles of agricultural crop. The first shrines were also, very often, temporary; built only to honour a deity when celebrating a festival.26 The contrast between this doctrine of constant regeneration and the one of ephemerality advocated by Buddhism is evident. However, due to the deep connection between Buddhist and Shinto religions up until the Meiji Restoration, in Japan, some Buddhist temples were also targets of this renewal process. The Kinkaku-ji, popularly known as The Golden Pavilion, in Kyoto, was completely destroyed in 1950 by a fire set by a monk who wanted to protest the Buddhism commercialization of Meiji era (Fig. 2-10). Contrary to the Buddhist philosophy, the temple was entirely rebuilt in 1955. Another example is the Kofuku-ji, in Nara, that has been rebuilt more than once and moved in different locations in a similar fashion to the one conducted in Ise. The most recent reconstruction is still in progress and is to be completed in 2018.. “If we compare the architecture of Western civilization to a museum, Japanese architecture [is like] a theatre”27. When thinking of architecture in the West, we always have this image of something that persists longer than man and has its real age written in its materiality. Building a structure that lasts centuries would mean employing stones or bricks in its construction whereas in Japan no such thing occurs. Building, be it for eternity or not, is almost always building in wood which changes radically the terms in which a building is appreciated. The Western idea of an old building is based on the idea of repair. Shinto notion is based on the idea. 26 Felicia G. Bock, “The Rites of Renewal at Ise,” Monumenta Nipponica 29, no. 1 (1974): p.55. 27 Toyo Ito in an interview with Sophie Roulet and Sophie Soulie, entitled “Towards a post ephemeral architecture,” cited in Lopes, “Shikinen Sengu and the Ontology of Architecture in Japan,” p.77.. Fig. 2-9 | The main temple of Ise Jingu in 1953. The design and construction techniques remain the same.(above) Fig. 2-10 | The burnt structure of Kinkaku-ji in 1950.. 20. of replacement. Building a Shinto shrine is also an analogy for the regeneration of the kami (Shinto gods) and the continuity of life. Rebuilding over and over again is striving not only for longevity, but also, for undying perfection.. “Perfection is frustratingly temporary always” 28. This perfection comes, however, at a high cost. Although in the past vast forests were tended for centuries in order to guarantee the material provisions needed, with the sudden demographic surge of the Edo period (1603-1868), more trees were taken down to be used as firewood than saved as raw construction materials. As a result, some shrines had their reconstruction postponed or even cancelled for good.. At a first glance, this tradition appears to be environmentally unsustainable, since the previous shrine is still operational, from a purely structural and architectural point of view, at the time it is dismantled. The high maintenance of natural resources demanded by the extremely short periods of time between reconstructions is also one of the factors that hold these procedures as implausible by 21st. century construction standards.. Since the Heian era (794-1185) a great part of the wood used in the sanctuaries of Ise Shrine is shipped across Japan to help repair smaller shrines in need. Conventionally, the treasures enclosed in the shrine were buried or given away to priests. Recently these sacred treasures have been given to museums and are exhibited all over Japan.. Besides being used to repair other shrines, some pieces of the older temple have already future uses designated. The two 11-meters-high pillars that support the roof from Naiku and Geku sanctuaries are used for other 20 years in the reconstruction of the two torii gates on the bridge that guards the Jingu Shrine (Fig. 2-11). After 20 years they are once again. 28 Brand, How Buildings Learn : What Happens after They’re Built, p.167.. Fig. 2-11 | Ise’s main torii and bridge in 1950.. 21. used to rebuild other torii gates nearby, creating something like a re-use chain.29. When contemplating time and the ageing of buildings in Japan, we need to take into consideration not only the buildings whose history begins when they are new and ceases when they decay, but also those which, like Shinto shrines, keep on living with a permanent new configuration from reconstruction to reconstruction. “What is old is the type and what is young is its current instance”.30. 2.4 FLeeTING TIme On the early death Of buildings. “There is no art as impermanent as architecture. All that solid brick and stone mean nothing, concrete is as evanescent as air. The monuments of our civilization stand, usually in negotiable real estate, their value goes down as the land value goes up.” 31. In the 1994’s book “How Buildings Learn”, Stewart Brand stated that the average life expectancy for a building in Tokyo was of 17 years.32 As of 2012, The European Business Council (EBC) published a study that revealed that the life span of a building in Japan was around 30 years.33 However,. 29 Junko Edahiro, “Rebuilding Every 20 Years Renders Sanctuaries Eternal - the Sengu Ceremony at Jingu Shrine in Ise,” JFS Newsletter 132(2013). available in: http://www.japanfs.org/en/news/archives/news_id034293. html 30 Lopes, “Shikinen Sengu and the Ontology of Architecture in Japan,” p.82. 31 Brand, How Buildings Learn : What Happens after They’re Built, p.82. 32 Ibid. 33 The European Business Council in Japan, Delivering Trade Potential - the Ebc Report on the Japanese Business Environment, (2012), https:// www.ebc-jp.com/downloads/2012-WP-E.pdf. p.21.. 22. the directive elaborated by the Minister of Finance, for the calculation of asset values and depreciation for income tax, declares that the “service-life” of a commercial building is of 50 years, while housing can have a lifespan of 47 years, if built in concrete, or 22 years, if built in wood.34. All of these values, while different between each other, share the same implication: a culture of disposable buildings. As mentioned before, this way of connecting with one’s environment has root in both the Buddhist dogmas as well as in the fast decaying of the traditional wooden structures under natural calamities or war. We can find other examples of the “expiration” period given to buildings in practices such as the destruction of palaces after the passing of the sovereign. The housing of the emperor was burned along with the body as a method to prevent any contagion by death.35. Yet, another important cause for this short lifespan of buildings lies in a peculiar socioeconomic aspect of modern-day Japan: the land ownership system. While in Western countries the building and the land form a single entity, in Japan they are perceived as separate units, hence the government’s necessity to establish a “service-life” value. In the West, what usually makes the land value rise is the construction of something in that same land as well as the maintenance of that building across decades. The situation in Japan is quite particular. The market price of the land and the building are completely independent of each other and the real economic value belongs to the land.36 Averagely speaking, a building in a Japanese urban area costs about. 34 Yukio Komatsu, “Service Lives of Building -Actual Life-Spans Determined by Factual Investigation,” The Japan News by The Yomiuri Shinbun(2011), http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/adv/wol/dy/opinion/ earthquake_120213.html. 35 Bock, “The Rites of Renewal at Ise,” p.55. 36 Richard Koo and Masaya Sasaki, “Obstacles to Affluence: Thoughts on Japanese Housing,” NRI Papers 137(2008): p.13.. 23. 10% of the price of land where it rests.37 Whilst the land-tax value steadily rises, the building can only decrease in worth. This explains why the land prices in Japan tend to be seen as extremely volatile.. “A building is not primarily a building, it is primarily property.”38. The most shocking example is in the residential construction field. As described before, the Ministry of Finances declared that concrete housings (also known as mansions in Japan) should have a lifespan of 47 years. In their paper intituled “Obstacles to Affluence: Thoughts on Japanese Housing” Richard Koo and Masaya Sasaki express that the main difference between houses in Japan and in the Western world is the way they are appreciated both legally and culturally. While in the West a house is perceived as a capital good, something that is reliable and which value will either be kept or rise as long as the building is maintained, in Japan, the houses last only about 30 years, making them a commodity. It is estimated that in the Japanese land market, a house loses one fifteenth of its original value every year, which means that after 15 years of inhabitation, a house is worth barely nothing.39. “The building is a depreciating asset until the point it is unusable and has to be demolished. Then, it becomes a liability.”40. Even when inheriting a house, the taxes are so high that it is almost mandatory that most heirs sell the entire. 37 Botond Bognar, “What Goes up, Must Come Down: Recent Urban Architecture in Japan,” Harvard Design Magazine 3(1997): p.3. 38 Brand, How Buildings Learn : What Happens after They’re Built, p.5. 39 Koo and Sasaki, “Obstacles to Affluence: Thoughts on Japanese Housing,” p.1. 40 Hiroko Saito, “The Apartment Management System in Japan,” The lease (2006).. 24. propriety or build another development after demolishing the previous building and selling part of the land to cover the taxes.41 Having an estate with nothing sitting on it is just a pricey burden.. As Fig. 2-12 shows, even though the amount of new housing construction is at its lowest when comparing to values from 1980s, it is rising since 2008. These values, however, do not mean that new building stock is being added to the Japanese market. Until the end of the 20th century, almost 80% of new construction was, indeed, associated to the increment of the building stock, but after the 1990s, the majority of this new residential construction (60%) comes. 41 Bognar, “What Goes up, Must Come Down: Recent Urban Architecture in Japan,” p.3.. Fig. 2-12 | New construction of residential buildings in Japan from 1980 until 2012.. Fig. 2-13 | Japanese building stock evolution.. 25. from the replacement of the housing constructed during the economic bubble of the post-world war period.42. As of 2008, housing built after the 1970s accounted for 78% of the building stock of Japan.43 (Fig. 2-13). Even if this overwhelming obsession with the new appears to be especially strong in the housing market, it is not specific to it. When in 1986, Kenzo Tange won the. 42 Y. Fujino and T. Noguchi, Stock Management for Sustainable Urban Regeneration(Springer, 2008), p.19. 43 Koo and Sasaki, “Obstacles to Affluence: Thoughts on Japanese Housing,” p.3.. Fig. 2-14 | Short building life syndrome in central Tokyo for steel structure and reinforced concrete buildings.. Fig. 2-15 | Age composition of building stocks in several countries.. 26. competition for the Tokyo Metropolitan Government’s new department, the previous city hall building, also designed by Tange, was not even 30 years old, which is far less than the 50 years “service life” that the Ministry of Finance suggests for a public building. In 1986, Toyo Ito designed the “Nomad” bar and Restaurant that stood for less than a year before being demolished. (Fig. 2-14). This management of built assets is notably irresponsible when considering the current standards of sustainability being held in Japan. In fact, after a law passed in 2000, 80% of building waste from demolition is being recycled in the archipelago. When considering concrete, the astonishing amount of 98% is being recycled as roadbed gravel. The only issue is that there is more gravel available than roads in need of it.44. Illegal waste dumping is another of the problematic consequences of this building-demolition-rebuilding cycle. In a 2008 study conducted by the Ministry of Environment 73% of the illegal disposed waste was originated in the construction industry.. “Cities devour buildings.”45 This standardization of real-estate appreciation over a building’s service, although taken to extremes in Japan, is not specific to this country. Buildings also get old in high valued estate in the Western world but somehow it is not rare for these buildings to survive time. (Fig. 2-15) What makes them resist being demolished and giving place to something newer and more profitable? How do we go through the trouble of maintaining an old building? And why do we choose this option over starting afresh continuously?. 44 Elisabeth Braw, “Japan’s Disposable Home Culture Is an Environmental and Financial Headache,” The Guardian(2014), http://www.theguardian. com/sustainable-business/disposable-homes-japan-environment- lifespan-sustainability. 45 Brand, How Buildings Learn : What Happens after They’re Built, p.5.. 3table of contents3.1 The main city - Fukuoka 3.1.1 Urban development3.2 Kyushu University and the Hakozaki Campus3.3 Decline and moving of Hakozaki Campus3.4 A past to preserve 3.4.1 Urban guidelines 3.4.2 Building preservationMoving of Kyushu UniversityTHe cAse oF HAKozAKI cAmPus. 28. 3.1 THe mAIN cITY fukuOka. The city of Fukuoka is located in the southwest of Japan, in the island of Kyushu (Fig. 3-1). The city now is the result of the merging of two different cities in Edo Period: Hakata, the merchant city and Fukuoka, the city where the samurai lived. They merged in 1889 but their unique characteristics can still be felt in the 21st century.. Due to its geographical relation with other main Asian cities (its distance from Seoul is the same to Tokyo) it played an important role as a connector between Japan and East Asia throughout history. Since the 7th century the port of Hakata is one of the most important commercial gateways of Japan. To better serve the trade activity, the shape of the city was dramatically altered in the following centuries. Up until the 21st century the city’s coastline continued to be redefined.1 (Fig. 3-2). 1 Since Fukuoka is surrounded by mountains the growth of the city is limited. To react to this impediment, the city has been growing trough artificial coastlines, damaging the connection between inhabitants and sea. Fig. 3-1 | Map of Japan and location of Fukuoka. (above). Fig. 3-2 | Fukuoka’s original coast line and 2013’s coast line superimposed. (below). 29. Fukuoka is also the 9th most populated city in Japan, with an estimated population of 1,489,753 habitants (as of 2010), ranking higher than major cities such as Kyoto. However, more relevant to Japan’s current demographic situation, is the fact that Fukuoka is the “youngest” city in Japan. It is the only Japanese city whose population is estimated to keep growing constantly up until 2030, contrary to the trend of the rest of the country (where depopulation is the assumption)(Fig. 3-3). 3.1.1 urbAN DeVeLoPmeNT. The history of urban planning as a subject in Japan, and specifically in Fukuoka, started to be addressed mainly after the destruction generated by World War II. Between 1946 and 2000, the government created urban norms such as the “Special City Planning Act” (1946), which focused on the re-construction and re-adjustment of the lands devastated, and the “New Urban Planning Law” (1968), which had as its main goal the control of soaring land prices and the urban sprawl that was scattering main cities in Japan. These norms were critical in the establishment of a paced recuperation of Japanese people’s lives all around the country.. Only in 2001, did the Fukuoka City Council produce an urban master plan that addressed the specific conditions of the town (Fig. 3-4). The decisions taken in the elaboration of these planning guidelines were crucial to the development of important institutions of the city, such as the Port of Hakata and also Kyushu University. With the rapid expansion of the population at the end of the 20th century, the city centre, Tenjin, had become overcrowded, serving mainly as a shopping and business district. As a way to balance the flow of people and services, it was decided that two other sub centres should be created. Since the city is mainly distributed along Hakata Bay, the two new city centres were placed one in each end of the bay, with Tenjin in a central position to them.. Fig. 3-3 | Demographic evolution in Fukuoka.. 30. On the northeast end, an artificial island was constructed in order to expand the port area and to provide new zones for housing and office development. Since Kyushu University was already planning the relocation of its main campus, it was decided that the new campus should be allocated at the other end, becoming the remaining sub-centre. The moving of the campus, which now comprehends an area of over 42 ha, will imply a delicate management not only of its remains, such as buildings and parks, but also of the urban life of the place that was mainly dependant on the constant presence of members of the academic community.. Fig. 3-4 | Fukuoka City Planning Master Plan (2001). The two stars mark the new sub-centres. planned.. 31. 3.2 KYusHu uNIVersITY AND THe HAKozAKI cAmPus. The history of the university goes back to the beginning of the 20th century with the establishment of Fukuoka Medical College in 1903. Later, the Fukuoka Institute of Technology was also created, and in April of 1911 they merged to create the new Kyushu Imperial University. The first building of this university was the “Faculty of Engineering”, built in bricks and in a Western style, setting the tone for the buildings to follow. Regrettably, in December of 1923 this building was destroyed by a fire, causing not only the loss of academic journals and research, but also of the campus’ first and most symbolical piece of architecture. The university couldn’t be the same without it so only 6 days after this accident, the reconstruction of the building was planned and ordered. 5 years later, the construction of a more resistant reinforced concrete replica was started. However fires were not rare in Hakozaki campus; various buildings burned to the ground in the following 20 years, some of them due to bombing by the American military during WWII (Fig. 3-6), and the construction of replacements in concrete became the most popular recovery plan.. In 1947, the name of the university was changed to its current iteration: Kyushu University. Following this, there was an intense growth of the area of the campus, as well as the establishment of new faculties.. Fig. 3-5 | Faculty of Engineering in 1914. Fig. 3-6 | US military phantom aircraft crash in 1968.. 32. Fig. 3-7 | Evolution of built area from Hakozaki. campus.. 1986 – Again there are relevant differences in this map, mostly. to accommodate the addition of core buildings. to the campus such as the Memorial Hall/. Auditorium.. 1964 – Large number of new buildings when. compared to the plan of 1930. Most likely the previous buildings were. destroyed by either fire or earthquakes. 1930 – The growth continues with the. completion of the new Engineering Faculty as well as the Faculties of. Law and Literature. 1922 – Conclusion of Agriculture Faculty. and re-construction of Engineering Faculty still. in process. 33. 3.3 DecLINe AND moVING oF HAKozAKI cAmPus. In 1991, 10 years before the new master plan for the city of Fukuoka was issued, the university committee decided that it was better for the future life of Kyushu University if its original campus was re-located and rebuilt anew in a different area of the town.. The official motives for this decision were varied: the degradation of the research and learning environment as well as the deterioration of the buildings; the nuisance that the proximity of the campus to the Fukuoka airport caused in lectures and the necessity to separate technical from general education inside the campus. Other causes included the ever rising land value of the Hakozaki area along with the lack of space to expand research laboratories of various faculties.. Fundamentally, the buildings were too old and most of them received barely any maintenance action since the time they were built (Fig. 3-8, Fig. 3-9). Also, the majority of the constructions were erected in the post-war period and their design deems the adding or the subtracting of parts a very difficult task. “No maintenance; no building.”1. As seen before, Japan has almost no significant tradition of adaptive re-use of old buildings to new necessities. As new demands arise, old buildings are declared unfit and “die”. The constantly evolving earthquake- resistance regulations for structures also advocates their unsuitability after a very short service period. Changing a building’s structure is just as expensive as perilous which turns demolition and rebuilding a more economically rentable option.. 1 Stewart Brand, How Buildings Learn : What Happens after They’re Built(New York, NY ; London: Viking, 1994), p.110.. Fig. 3-8 | Aerospace Engineering Faculty in 1939. (above) Fig. 3-9 |The same faculty in 2014.. 34. In short, the buildings in the campus didn’t adapt to new circumstances, they weren’t even given the chance to.. 3.4 A PAsT To PreserVe. Although the adaptation of buildings is not common that doesn’t mean that buildings hold no value to the Japanese people. As mentioned earlier, when the “Faculty of Engineering” succumbed to a fire in 1914, the follow-up was the re-construction of a clone of this symbolic building, instead of a more modern or simply different design. The building was, in fact, so admired that the re-construction was built in reinforced concrete, a technique still recent in 1920’s Japan.. Understanding the importance that some of the buildings had, not only in the lives of the academic community but also within the daily life of Hakozaki’s inhabitants, a special committee was created in mid 2000s in order to analyse which buildings should be preserved. This committee was mainly composed by university members, though local meetings with the community were also conducted.. Along with these, new policies for the urban development of the area of the campus were also established in order to entice future developers, as well as to guide their intervention.. Fig. 3-10 |Buildings abandoned as of 2005 in Hakozaki campus including “Faculty of. Engineering” mentioned earlier, the headquarters and manuscript library, among others.. 35. Fig. 3-11 |The destruction of the “Faculty of Engineering” in 1923. (above) Fig. 3-12 |Building reconstruction of the same faculty in reinforced concrete in 1930.. 36. 3.4.1 urbAN GuIDeLINes fOr future develOpment. In 2013, Kyushu University published a document with some urban intentions to be applied on the area, after the final moving of the faculties in 2019. . The main urban guidelines are as follow: • Create new sustainability and growth; • Create environment for education and research; • Take advantage of the high convenience and. location of advanced medical facilities – Kyushu University Hospital;. • Cherish historical and cultural resources.. Throughout the report we can find some ideas for the future use of the land but nothing overly determined. New industries with regional connection, research institutions or schools as well as a proper re-appropriation of the buildings that symbolize Kyushu University as a 100-years-old institution are some of the examples cited. More pragmatic changes in the urban design of the area are also noted such as the improvement of the traffic conditions and the design of different functions in such a way that creates a sense of unity within the city.. In Fig. 3-13 it is possible to see one illustration of the distribution of these areas in plan. Some functional areas are identified although extremely vaguely (pink: growth/vitality/ cultural exchanges; yellow: safety/ relief/ commitment; purple: education/ research.) There are some desired connections designed as well, although their aim is still mainly conceptual.. Fig. 3-13 | Future plan concept for the Hakozaki Campus area.. 37. 3.4.2 buILDING PreserVATIoN. As mentioned, an evaluation of the buildings that comprise the campus was also conducted. The buildings were availed by a committee formed by professionals of different specialties in order to better understand the complexity of their impact in the community. Each building underwent a series of inquiries that were organized into 5 main categories: history, architecture, and culture, re-use possibilities and seismic performance. The buildings received scores in all of these different categories. The higher the score, the higher the possibility and need for preservation of the building.. However simple this method can appear to be, when analysing the results published, some outcomes seem contradictory.. For instance, the building that ranked highest in the overall evaluation was the Faculty of Engineering. The cultural, historical and architectonic relevance of this building may leave no doubt, but in terms of seismic performance the investigation concluded: “It is a reinforced concrete building but for earthquake resistance it is insufficient, the structure is degraded, seismic retrofitting is required.”. In fact, the majority of the buildings in the top 10 (6 in 10) couldn’t even be tested on their seismic performance because of the lack of information about their structure. Moreover, all of them have indications for retrofitting because of ageing, deterioration or improper structure for earthquakes, which is the case of buildings built entirely in brick.. Even if we do not regard seismic performance as important as other categories, the inconsistent issues don’t end here. Another category for evaluation is “re-use”, defined by the inquiry as “ease of re-use on site as a building”. This is a fairly important category, because even if the building is very valued inside the community, if it cannot accommodate. 38. further uses or grow as necessary, then its value will diminish when its original function ceases. Again, in this category, the “Faculty of Engineering” was the highest scorer, which is rather odd since it has never been used for any other function than the “Faculty of Engineering”. After the faculty moved functions to Ito Campus in 2005, the building has been pretty much abandoned and there is no information of growth or adaptation in the history of the building since its re-construction in 1930. In comparison, the building that hosts the “Faculty of Architecture” has grown 3 times until it reached its final (current) version (Fig. 3-14).. This building was able to cope with the necessity of its users, growing and changing its form to accommodate other departments and uses. Its score in terms of “reuse possibilities”, however, is half of the one attributed to the “Faculty of Engineering”.. It is hard to understand the exact criteria used in the evaluation as well, as the exact weight of each category. The results presented seem to portray a slightly biased version of the analysis conducted. Since this review was, in part, created to entice developers to acquire, and therefore, salvage some buildings, the spotlight was shined upon those buildings that have an iconic architectonic image, different from what can be usually found in the scenario of Japanese cities.. Due to the inconclusiveness of this inquiry, I decided to conduct my own survey in order to better comprehend the existent connection between community and buildings. The survey was conducted in an online platform for the period of one month, starting on May 30th 2014. Two different inquiry sheets were created, one in Japanese aimed for the native students, another in English, aimed for exchange students in the campus.. Fig. 3-14 | Piece-meal evolution of the Faculty of Architecture.. 39. Fig. 3-15 | “Faculty of Engineering”. Fig. 3-16 | “Headquarters” (Building 1). Fig. 3-17 | “Auditorium / Memorial Hall”.. 40. In total, 69 members of the academic community participated in this survey, from which 53% were Japanese, while 47% were foreigners. As for their role in the Hakozaki Campus, 74% were students, 12% were professors, 7% were officers, 4% were researchers and 3% had other functions.. The diversity of background was also important in the research since the results could be biased if the majority of students had technical knowledge about architecture or if none of the students knew the buildings being mentioned. The next figure illustrates the background of the people that answered the survey.. Regarding the buildings, those presented for analysis in the survey were the 14 highest ranked buildings by the university in their original 24 elements list. Some of examples selected by the university committee for preservation were not buildings per se (gates, gardens etc) and were, therefore, not included in the inquiry as to make the process easier for the participants.. 31%. 15%. 13%. 7%. 6%. 6%. 4%. 4%. 3%. 3%. 3%. 3%. 1%. Human Environmental Studies. Law. International Student Office. Agriculture. Integrated Frontier Sciences. Others. Medicine. Education. Engeneering. Humanities. Systems Life Sciences. Earth and Planetary Sciences. Literature. Fig. 3-18 | Academic background of the participants in the survey.. 41. The majority of the participants agreed with the university’s top two choices (“Faculty of Engineering” and “Headquarters” Building 1), but disagreed on the ranking of the next buildings (Fig. 3-19). The survey conducted by the university availed that the third in line for preservation should be “Headquarters” Building 3, which ranked 6th place in my own inquiry. The academic community considered the “Manuscript Library”, the “Auditorium” and the “Tropical Agriculture Institute” as more worthy of maintenance.. Next, it was asked what future functions, if any, could